Springing Ahead

Langkawi boat tour with Jen & Joel

We've been incredibly busy the last few months--a sign, I guess of our increased involvement on all fronts! Since we last shared with all of you, we had a wonderful visit from our kids, Jen and Joel, in January--visiting the places we hang out the most around Kuala Lumpur, having a wonderful island getaway at Langkawi, and making some day trips to explore new things around us--all while enjoying the wonderful variety of food that Malaysia is famous for.

A recent Book Club poster

Tom completed an entire intensive semester in 7 weeks, teaching the same Leadership class he taught in the fall, only this time to over 80 students! This week he begins another new semester, in which he will be back to teaching English--2 sections each of 2 different classes, for a total of about 80 new students. The book club he helped to start, called BLU (Book Lovers United), now has a student leadership team and has met several times. They will have a big event to start off the new semester on Apr. 10, featuring a local author reading excerpts from some of her stories. Tom has enjoyed working with and getting to know other faculty members in his department, as well as students in his class and in the Christian Fellowship group on campus. The University has verbally extended the offer to him to continue on for another year, so we plan to pursue that in the coming months.

Janet with her women's small group

Much of Janet's time has been focused on her CCEF online course--guiding, grading, and meeting her 23 students, all based in Malaysia. It has been wonderful seeing the enthusiasm of the students for the course, how it's changing their lives and helping them to think about ministry to others. A good number of them are planning to continue with further courses this summer or fall, and other new people are showing interest in beginning CCEF courses as well. Janet is also teaching How People Change, the church-level format of the same course, to small group leaders in a local church. They plan to have all their small groups work through the curriculum later this year. In addition, Janet has had increased opportunities for counseling and discipling individuals and couples, as well as teaching/assisting seminars on Conflict Resolution/Mediation in conjunction with Peacemaker Ministries. On top of that, she's helping lead a wonderful bunch of young women from church in a small group that began last year (before we came on the scene).

Hiking the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge

On the home front, we continue to enjoy getting to know our very international mix of neighbors. Some of the students living near us have become like our extended family, sharing meals, going hiking, playing cards together, going with us to church, or just hanging out. We've even had to borrow a bigger car for some of our trips to church in order to accommodate everyone!

With all that's going on, it was nice to get away last week for a couple of nights to explore Georgetown, Penang, a well-known island town further north in Malaysia, known for its history and wonderful food. But we look forward to the opportunities another year will give us here, where God seems to have much in store for us!

Wishing you all a Happy Easter as we celebrate the risen Christ!
Janet & Tom